Laura co-founded Kenshin Taiko in 1995 with Denyse Nakashima and has been the heart of the ensemble ever since. She acts as an anchor for the community group, constantly providing a warm example of kindness and generosity.

Laura’s deep experience with taiko and leading taiko ensembles gives her a perspective few can offer. She has led Kenshin Taiko through many years as a strong and successful organization, bringing joy to players and audiences. Her acceptance of everyone who wants to play taiko is unwavering, resulting in a diverse group of varying ages, abilities and heritage.

We were honored to have Laura as a founding member of the board.

Founding Member of the Board

Sarah Gregorio has been the coordinator for Kenshin Taiko since 2015, an assignment she undertook just 6 months after joining. Nearly 100 performances later, Kenshin is going strong, and Sarah has been a significant contributor to that success.

Sarah’s willingness to step in and fill a need has served Kenshin very well. During the pandemic lockdowns in 2020, she showed her dedication to the art of taiko by finding ways to solve the many problems that faced Kenshin. She found places for the group to practice as a group; she helped them develop practice drums that sound amazing; she spent hours painting beautiful designs on the drums for group members.

Over the years, she has received instruction from Kenny Endo, Marco Lienhard, Shoji Kameda, Masato Baba, and Rannoch Purcell. Even when acting as an instructor herself, she strives to always be a student.

Founding Member of the Board